My Week With a DOS Games Collection: Big Fun In A Small Package

You know what? I didn’t plan this. A rainy Sunday turned into a whole week of old PC games. I set up a DOS games collection on my Windows laptop, using DOSBox (I leaned on the basic setup guide) and a simple front-end, LaunchBox. Most of my games came from GOG (they run inside DOSBox), plus a few old shareware disks I still had in a shoebox. If you need even more retro fuel, DOS Games Online hosts a haul of classics that run right in your browser or download with ease. It felt like opening a lunchbox from the ’90s—small, a little messy, but so good. If you’d like an expanded diary of this same adventure, check out My Week With a DOS Games Collection: Big Fun in a Small Package.

Setup: Not Fancy, Just Works

I plugged in a cheap USB gamepad, but for most games I used the keyboard. Arrows. Ctrl. Alt. Space. That’s the core. I ran everything at 4:3 so it didn’t stretch. Alt+Enter made it full screen. If a game ran too fast, I tapped Ctrl+F11. Too slow? Ctrl+F12. Real low-tech fixes. Honestly, that was half the charm.

Sound needed a nudge. I set most games to Sound Blaster. For a couple Sierra games, I tried MT-32 emulation (fancy music box sounds). It made King’s Quest V sing. But it took extra setup, so I stuck with Sound Blaster for the rest.

One weird bit: Prince of Persia ran like it drank six coffees. A quick tweak in DOSBox (lower cycles) calmed it down. If you’re totally new to this, the friendly walk-through at PCWorld on how to use DOSBox to play classic games spells out every essential step.

Real Games I Actually Played

• Doom (shareware): E1M1 still hits. I shot the first barrel too close and spooked myself. Found the secret by the green armor. The music thumped. My hands remembered the feel, like riding a bike in a hallway.
• Wolfenstein 3D: “Achtung!” I still flinch. The maze halls feel same-y, but that blue brick look is home.
• Prince of Persia: Timed jumps over spikes still make me sweat. That 60-minute clock taunts you. I fell in a pit three times, then nailed the long jump and actually cheered. Alone. In my kitchen.
• The Oregon Trail: My kid named an ox “Toast.” We died of dysentery. We laughed anyway. Hunting still uses the spacebar. I kept missing the deer, then got like six buffalo in one go. Too much meat. Classic problem.
• The Secret of Monkey Island: Insult sword-fighting never gets old. “You fight like a dairy farmer.” “How appropriate, you fight like a cow!” I forgot two lines and had to relearn them like flash cards.
• Lemmings: I saved 51 when it asked for 50. Felt like a hero. Then one lemming wandered off and blew up. Oops.
• Commander Keen 4: The pogo stick is pure joy. I used to hum the level music as a kid. I still did.
• Dune II: Build Harvester. Protect Harvester. Lose Harvester. Repeat. Still fun. The sand worms got me twice. My bad.
• Descent: I lasted ten minutes before I felt queasy. It’s a space tunnel roller coaster. Mouse helped, a bit.
• SimCity 2000 (DOS): Slower than the Windows one, but fine. Taxes at 7%. Roads everywhere. I stared at tiny people moving like ants and felt weirdly proud.

Small note: I tried Duke Nukem 3D (shareware) for five minutes. It ran fine, but the tone felt rough. I bailed. That’s me. If you’re hunting for an even broader catalog of can’t-miss classics, consult The Best MS-DOS Games of All Time—From My Desk, My Disks, My Heart.

What Surprised Me

• Load times were fast. These games are tiny. I blinked and they started.
• Manual stuff mattered. Like reading a few lines before Monkey Island starts. Old games expect you to think first, not mash buttons.
• Key maps matter. I saved custom keys for Doom and Wolf3D, then forgot to back them up. Lost them. Learned my lesson.

A lot of these little “aha” moments echo the reflections in The Best MS-DOS Games I Still Think About, showing how design quirks stick with us for decades.

Good Stuff

• Tons of styles: shooters, puzzles, point-and-click, sims. Something for every mood.
• Family friendly picks exist. We took turns in Lemmings and Oregon Trail. Low stress, big laughs.
• Works offline. No updates. No launch drama. Just play.
• Audio charm. AdLib and Sound Blaster are crunchy in a nice way. Feels warm.

Craving another kind of quick, low-pressure “session” that happens face-to-face instead of behind a keyboard? You can get that same burst-of-fun pacing at a local mixer like Speed Dating Tyler—a series of timed mini-conversations that lets you meet a bunch of new people in one evening without any of the endless app swiping.

Bad Stuff

• Controls can be clunky. Some games hate gamepads. Use the keyboard.
• Saves can be weird. Some ask you to save to “Disk C.” It’s just a folder, but still odd.
• Tuning needed. Speed, sound, or video may need tweaks. It’s not hard, but it’s not plug-and-play for every title.
• A few crash gremlins showed up. Usually fixed by changing cycles or video mode.

Side note: Modern Twitch streams often showcase lightning-fast DOS speedruns and chill retro marathons, but the platform also has a spicier, adults-only edge that most casual viewers never see. If curiosity nudges you to explore that underbelly, check out this roundup of Twitch nudes to get a clear look at how some creators push the platform’s boundaries and what Twitch’s rules really allow.

Little Tips That Helped

• Keep a sticky note of keys by your desk. ESC, F1, F2, quick save, quick load.
• Use 4:3 aspect. Pixels look right. Your eyes will thank you.
• Try DOSBox Staging if you like easy shaders. A soft CRT glow made Monkey Island feel like it did at my cousin’s house.
• For speed, go “cycles=auto” and then nudge it with Ctrl+F11/F12 if something feels off.
• If sound pops, switch from SB16 to SBPro in the game’s setup. That solved clicks in Descent for me.

A Small Digression: Smell Memory

I swear I could smell warm plastic. My hands moved like it was 1994. The room was different, but the feeling stuck—lighter, easier, like summer break even in winter.

Who Will Like This

• Folks who like tinkering a little.
• Parents who want simple, funny games to share. Lemmings is perfect for this.
• Fans who want story and jokes, not just graphics. Monkey Island, I’m looking at you.

If you hate setup, or you need modern smoothness, you might bounce off. That’s fair.

The Verdict

This DOS games collection made my week. It felt cozy and sharp at the same time. I had to adjust a few things, sure. But the games hold up, not because they’re pretty, but because they’re clever and they care about play. Solid 8 out of 10 for me.

Would I keep it installed? Yes. For rainy days. For ten-minute breaks. For one more try at that jump in Prince of Persia. And, okay, for “You fight like a dairy farmer.”

If you need a quick shortlist before building your own stash, skim through My Top 10 Old DOS Games I Still Think About and see which ones call your name.